On the 22nd (local time), the German Federal Prosecutor's Office announced on the 23rd that it had arrested Gian G, an aide to a Member of the European Parliament, on charges of espionage for a foreign intelligence agency.
Gian G, a German national originally from China, worked as an aide to Maximilian Kra, a Member of the European Parliament from the far-right party Alternative for Germany (AfD). He is suspected of passing information related to European Parliament negotiations and decisions to Chinese authorities in January of this year. Prosecutors also believe he monitored Chinese dissidents within Germany.
On the 22nd alone, German prosecutors arrested four Chinese spies. The other three suspects are accused of obtaining technology that could be used for military purposes under the guise of academic and technical cooperation with German universities, and then passing it on to Chinese intelligence agencies.
Additionally, British prosecutors announced on the 22nd that they plan to indict former parliamentary researchers Christopher Casey and Christopher Berry on charges of espionage activities for China.
Meanwhile, the Chinese government denied the espionage allegations. Wang Wenbin, spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said at a regular briefing that "the so-called 'China espionage threat' is nothing new in the European public discourse," adding that "the extensive propaganda aims to smear China, suppress it, and disrupt the cooperative atmosphere between China and Europe."
He also expressed hope that "the German side will abandon Cold War mentalities" and emphasized once again that "the claim that China stole information from the UK is completely groundless and malicious slander."
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